Key Management

Executive Team

Anil Sharma, MD, MBA

CEO/Medical Director

Dr. Anil Sharma is a Board Certified Psychiatrist and Clinical Pharmacologist with more than 15 years of clinical and research experience as a faculty member at prominent institutions including the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Stanford and VA Medical centers. He is well established in the medical field, working with world-renowned mentors and has done numerous publications and presentations in many national and international conferences in addition to authoring book chapters. Dr. Sharma has served as a committee member of in the American Society of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (ASCPT). He has also helped develop the Pharmacogenomics module for CITI training. He has taken numerous initiatives in the expansion of ethics training worldwide.

Dr. Sharma completed his medical training from Sawai ManSingh Medical College in Jaipur, India and post-graduate residency training in Psychiatry from University of Nebraska/Creighton Medical Center. He then completed his executive M.B.A. at University of Tennessee, and was awarded his training in Clinical Pharmacology and Research at UCLA.

Mitali Wadekar, MD, CIP

COO/Associate Medical Director

Dr. Mitali Wadekar is a Board Certified Child, Adolescent and Adult Psychiatrist with a vast background in clinical and research work of over 10 years including at academic and private settings. She serves as an Ethics committee member in the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and has been awarded the NIH K30 Translational Research award at University of California, Los Angeles.

Dr. Wadekar completed her medical training from Mumbai, India and her post-graduate residency training in Psychiatry and fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry from UCLA, where she worked for the last several years. She has been involved in ethics training projects around the world, has several publications and has presented at various scientific meetings. Dr. Wadekar truly believes in and fully supports IRBco’s mission of strong Human Subject Protection in clinical research, serving as IRBco’s Chief Operating Officer and Associate Medical Director.

Shahrokh Golshan, PhD

Associate Executive Director

Dr. Shahrokh Golshan is the Director of the Methodology, Biostatistics and Data Management core (MBDM) and a Project Scientist at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD)-Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Golshan has been involved with the MBDM core since its inception and has been a long-time consultant to this center. He has been the PI and Director of the Biostatistical Core in the UCSD Mood Disorder Clinical Research Center since 1987. He has served as a member on various National committees such as the NIMH-funded Mental Health Clinical Research Center, NIMH-funded Psychopharmacology Fellowship Research Program and NIMH-funded Geriatric Psychiatry Clinical Research Center.

He has experience as a Biostatistics consultant, and is an expert in study design, methodology and complex statistical modeling and analysis. He has been involved in teaching Biostatistics and has received several awards from the University and numerous research grants as a co-investigator from the NIH and Federal government.

Michael Epstein, MD

Chairperson, Review Board

Dr. Epstein has over 30 years of experience practicing in the field of gastroenterology, training as a clinician, and treating patients with a range of gastroenterological ailments, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), Crohn’s disease, and Ulcerative Colitis, Hepatology and Liver disease and other gastrointestinal disorders.

He received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Colorado, Boulder in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology with Distinction. Graduated from the Robert Wood Johnson School of Medicine in Newark, New Jersey. Completed internship and residency programs at George Washington University Hospital and School of Medicine in Washington, D.C. Completed a Fellowship in Gastroenterology and Hepatology under Leonard B. Seef, M.D., at the Veterans Administration Medical Center and Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

He is currently a principal physician at Digestive Disorders Associates and is the President of the Maryland Diagnostic & Therapeutic Endo Center (both in Annapolis, MD). He has served as President of the Medical Staff at Anne Arundel Medical Center (Annapolis, MD). He is a staff gastroenterologist at Anne Arundel Medical Center and Baltimore Washington Medical Center (Baltimore, MD). He is a Fellow in the American College of Gastroenterology and in the American Gastroenterology Association. He is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine with a subspecialty of Gastroenterology.

Clinical research is a very important aspect of his professional career. He has acted as a Principal and Senior Investigator for over 150 clinical studies. Presently, he is the President of Investigative Clinical Research, where he leads clinical investigations for the treatment of IBD, IBS, Ulcerative Colitis, Crohn’s Disease and Hepatitis. He has also advised pharmaceutical corporations and medical device manufacturers in all phases of drug development (preclinical through post-marketing). Additionally, he has served on advisory boards to the United States Food and Drug Administration.

In addition to his clinical practice and work as a lead investigator, he has also published numerous research articles, review articles, and abstracts. Publications have appeared in peer-reviewed journals such as The American Journal of Gastroenterology, Maryland Medical Journal, the American Journal of Surgical Pathology, Society of Air Force Journal, and Gastroenterology among others.

Preethi Puthanveetil, MA, MPH, MHP

Vice-Chairperson, Review Board

Preethi is completing her Doctorate in Bioethics and Health Policy from Loyola University of Chicago. She has extensive experience in clinical research, research administration, and regulatory review. She is currently an Administrative Research Director at the Semel Institute of Neuroscience at the University of California, Los Angeles.

She is part of the team that secured the prestigious NIH FAST FAIL trials in Autism Spectrum Disorders, and garnered several years of experience at Office of Human Research Protections Program at UCLA. Her expertise includes bioethics: translational research ethics and Neuroethics, public health ethics, and mental health policy planning and service development. Preethi has also been a contributor for the “State of the Future” for the Millennium Project. She has completed graduate work at California State University Fullerton, University of Wisconsin at Madison, UCLA, and Loyola University of Chicago.

Anthony Hong, MBA

Executive Director

Anthony brings a breadth of clinical research and operational experience. Anthony has over 20 years research working at research sites, CROs and with sponsors and serving as an ethical review member at the IRB. He has served at a patient recruitment specialist progressing to Director of Operations at the study sites. His passion for research led him to further his career in research as a CRA, Study Manager and Senior Director, Head of Clinical Operations at Valeant Pharmaceuticals.

Anthony received his M.B.A. from UCLA and is currently the Vice President of Clinical Operations at Epiphany Biosciences in Costa Mesa, CA.

Please contact us directly to request the full IRBco Board Member Roster.

Awards

IRBco is awarded Full Accreditation by the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs Inc. (AAHRPP). Accreditation validates our comprehensive program which integrates ethical reviews, state-of-the-art technology and staff development to create an environment of responsible and ethical human subject protection. We provide our services at levels beyond client expectations and that exceed federal requirements for safeguarding participants. We believe that accreditation leads to an increased level of professional accountability.